See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, Americans were left wondering how such a long-term, globally coordinated plot could have escaped detection by the CIA and taken the nation by surprise. Robert Baer was not surprised. A retired veteran of the CIA's Directorate of Operations, Baer saw firsthand how an increasingly bureaucratic CIA lost its way in the post-Cold War world and refused to adequately acknowledge and neutralize the growing threat of Islamic fundamentalist terror in the Middle East.

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Publisher's Summary

One of the CIA's top field officers of the past quarter century recounts his career running agents in the back alleys of the Middle East. Robert Baer paints a chilling picture of how terrorism works on the inside, and provides compelling evidence about how Washington politics sabotaged CIA efforts to root out the world's deadliest terrorists.

On September 11, 2001, the world witnessed the terrible result of that intelligence failure with the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Americans were left wondering how such an obviously long-term, globally coordinated plot could have escaped detection by the CIA and taken the nation by surprise. Baer was not surprised. A 21-year veteran of the CIA's Directorate of Operations who left the agency in 1997, Baer saw firsthand how an increasingly bureaucratic CIA lost its way in the post-Cold War world and refused to adequately acknowledge and neutralize the growing threat of Islamic fundamentalist terror in the Middle East and elsewhere.

See No Evil is an unprecedented look at the roots of modern terrorism. Baer reveals some disturbing details he uncovered in his work, including:

In 1996, Osama bin Laden established a strategic alliance with Iran to coordinate terrorist attacks against the United States.

In 1995, the National Security Council intentionally aborted a military coup d'etat against Saddam Hussein, forgoing the last opportunity to get rid of him.

In 1997 Baer received the Career Intelligence Medal, with a citation that says, "He repeatedly put himself in personal danger, working the hardest targets, in service to his country." Here is Baer's frank assessment of an agency that forgot that "service to country" must transcend politics, and his forceful plea for the CIA to return to its original mission - the preservation of our national sovereignty and the American way of life.

Though the author had left the CIA prior to 9/11, the real war on terror has been going on for decades... only our enemies were fighting it while our leadership largely focused on other issues. Robert Baer was a front-line CIA case officer committed since the early 1980's to finding out more about radical Islam, the shadowy networks that formed and dissipated in its periodic headline-grabbing assaults against "the Great Satan," and which countries provided not-so-silent support for the attacks.

The audiobook is disappointingly short--I found myself yearning for the breadth and detail of The Company--but well worthwhile. Forget about the tired, ivory-tower academic treatments of Islam if what you want is a who's who of the cast of characters that are nostalgic for the 1300's and see us as the primary obstacle to imposing Allah's will on all humanity.

This is an amazing inside look into the real workings of the CIA. Mr. Baer tells it like it is. He gives names, dates and details in describing the front line secret wars of an agency hamstrung by inept and out of touch bureaucrats in Washington. A crisis of confidence, internal betrayal, and post cold-war apathy has led to a tragic inability to effectively carry out the mission of the CIA. I am surprised that some of the revelations could be published--and as you read this book you will find yourself hoping that the critical lessons from the author's 25 years of experience are not missed by the US politicians, policy makers and bureaucrats charged with protecting the interests of Americans. As 9-11 demonstrated, the CIA or something like it is more relevant than ever, but the organization has been broken. Robert Baer presents chilling and convincing evidence that we must be willing to change our system and mentaliity or we will inevitably suffer more tragic conseqences that might otherwise be prevented.

Previously, I read a few articles Mr Baue worte in the Atlantic Montly. He is an individual who still needs to be on duty!! We listend to his book and really hoped that it was fictin. Unfortunatley it is not. I found him to bring a very practical view from experience with a complete knowledge of real hard knocks. He put the whole terrrist issue into perpective.

Not Baer's best work but revealing and very interesting nevertheless. I will admit that the abridged version needed more depth (my fault for buying the wrong one). However, Robert Baer's keen insight is worthy of investment. He provides a uniquely honest and substantive account to complex matters. I intend to read all his books...

This book is simply a regurgitation of the failures of both the CIA and the author over the period of his career. It leaves the reader empty, frustrated and angry.

Additionally, the author reads his own work and is absolutely horrible at it. The man has an undergrad degree from George Washington and has completed post-grad work at Berkley, yet reads and annunciates much like a 7th grader.

See No Evil was interesting, when the author talked about his actual experiences as an agent for the CIA, but the audio, the voice of the reader, is almost unbearable. Maybe it's just because I had just finished listening to Charlie Wilson's War before starting See No Evil - the difference was stark (Wilson's War was fascinating throughout and was read by an engaging, expressive speaker). Luckily, See No Evil is not too long. The reader sounded to me like a junior high school boy in his pronunciations. Also, many points he makes sound like 'sour grapes' from an ex-agent.

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